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At the beginning of July 2019, a Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Adriatic Aerospace Association and the Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) School of Astronautics. The NPU is the most prestigious in astronautics in China with a wide spectrum of activities, which will be a great incentive for the development of the space program in the Republic of Croatia. On the side of the NPU, the Signatory of the Contract is Prof. Dr. Yi Li, Deputy Dean of the School of Astronautics, while on the A3 side the signatories where Prof. Dr. Sc. Slobodan Danko Bosanac, President A3, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ognjan Božić.

Hybrid rocket engines have the future and they are in the phase of intense research and development. Hon. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ognjan Božić, an A3 member, led until this year  the DLR team that develops that aspect of rocket propulsion. The report on the work on the project has been published on the DLR website.

„In the spring of 2019, the innovative hybrid rocket engine “AHRES-B” was successfully tested on the test bench “block of four” at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Trauen. For the researchers a special reason to enjoy, because hybrid rocket engines are not only fundamentally cheaper and safer than conventional rocket engines, AHRES-B is also significantly more effective than all its predecessors. The current test has shown that the technological development of hybrid rocket engines is now well advanced enough to be used, for example, on sounding rockets.

The advantage: hybrid rocket engines are combinations of solid and liquid engines and combine the best features of both engine types. The liquid oxygen carrier – in this case highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide – and the solid fuel HTPB (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene) are initially separated in AHRES-B and only meet in the combustion chamber. As a result, there is no risk of explosion during storage and operation. In addition, the substances used are non-toxic and not harmful to the environment.“

Flying and reaching stars is one of the greatest incentives for imagination and creativity, and the “Space” is the key word that unites it. Encouraging creativity in the direction of space activities resulted in many successes in the exploration of Space as well as in the development of the material side of civilization. Initiative of A3 to establish Sections for Space Technology in Secondary Schools had precisely this ambition, to get students to know how some of their imaginations can be achieved. However, this initiative has also resulted in a completely different purpose, re-socializing children with problematic behavior. This direction of activity was noticed by Damir Preksavec, a teacher at the Mali Lošinj Resocialization Center (House), which has an internal vocational school under the auspices of Center of Education and has been operating since the foundation of the House in 1952, by establishing the Space Technology Section. Students, attendees of this school are children coming from all over Croatia.

According to Damir Preksavc, the Section for Space Technology helps his students in the process of re-socialization by teaching them competence in the field of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information technology and other topics.

The Section is regularly attended by ten students and we are aware that our students are not interested in scientific work. Therefore, we emphasized the practical work and so, for example, the student Philip Filipović made from the wooden materials the model of the F-16. The plane is under construction. Great creativity of the student was used when making the plane, which is definitely important for the development of space technologies.

About school
The school is an indispensable part of the program of re-socialization of children and adolescents with behavioral disorders, and provides opportunities for education of children from the local community, especially in programs that are not represented in high school “A. Haračića “in Mali Lošinj.

The school carries out a curriculum for secondary education for the following three years of occupation:
1. Field of mechanical engineering: turner, plumber, locksmith and tinsmith
2. Field of catering and tourism: chef and waiter
3. Woodworking: woodworking

and two-year occupations:
1. The field of mechanical engineering: machine and construction monter
2. Field of work catering and tourism: assistant chef and assistant waiter
3. Wood Processing Area: Flooring

We also conduct an adult education program for all of these professional occupations. A training program is also being carried out for the pursuit of a profession in the profession of welder. We also have a primary school that we are pursuing according to the adult education program.

In addition to the school itself, we also have workshops where students take the knowledge of the professions for which they are trained (lathes, locksmiths, welders and carpenters), students attending waiters and chefs participate daily in preparing and serving lunches for all users of the House.